


Puzzle Pieces

by dusuessekartoffel



Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany)
Genre: Druck Advent Calendar 2020, fatou and ismail being detectives but not really, mostly fatou pining after kieu my tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28265403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dusuessekartoffel/pseuds/dusuessekartoffel
Summary: Fatou could think of a long list of nicer things to do than help Ismail solve his newest "case" but unfortunately she's bad at saying no, especially if it involves Kieu My. At least she has Maike on her side.Druck Advent Calendar 2020 Day 23
Comments: 11
Kudos: 66





	Puzzle Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a detective story but it ended up being about 30% detective story and 70% Fatou pining after Kieu My. What can you do? 
> 
> Shoutout to turtle experts Söph and Ksu for helping making those parts not totally inaccurate. Everything that's wrong is their fault, obviously. 
> 
> Also, this definitely doesn't follow the current corona guidelines in Berlin/Germany but I guess it follows the same ones as the show. Or imagine this takes place in a corona-free world if that makes you happier. 
> 
> A note on pronouns: I know Ismail's actor identifies as non-binary and Ismail is very likely to be confirmed as non-binary as well and that's why some people use they/them pronouns for Ismail. But since the show uses he/him and we have no clue what pronouns Ismail would use in English, I've decided to go with that for now.

**Puzzle Pieces**

**Wednesday 18:07**

_Meet me here at 18:30, make sure no one sees you. Bring the turtle. It’s urgent!!! - I_

It’s the stupidest message Fatou has ever received. She has his number saved now so she knows it’s from Ismail and still he’s pretending that they’re in some secret crime-solving drama. He’s been doing it ever since he gave her Maike, texting her to meet up and acting like no one is allowed to know about it. First, it was to give her an article he’d found on how to keep turtles. She’d shaken her head at him and told him she didn’t need his help. The second time, he’d acted all mysterious, dressed in a huge black coat from which he’d pulled 10 Euros, “as compensation” for looking after Maike and because, she was sure of this, he secretly felt bad for stealing her and then making someone else look after her.

Mostly, she’s annoyed at him for making her leave the house on a too cold December afternoon, one day before Christmas Eve, but there’s a tiny part of her that’s curious about what he wants now. Maybe that’s why she actually goes to meet him instead of telling him to leave her alone. Although she hates having to put Maike into a small box again, especially when she’s sure whatever reason Ismail has for asking her to bring Maike is stupid and unnecessary. 

Reluctantly, she looks up the location he sent her. It’s a little store she’s never heard of, thankfully not too far away from her home. Still, she’s wrapped in every scarf she could find and she swears, if going out in the cold for a stupid reason will hurt Maike in any way, she’ll rake Ismail over the coals. 

When she’s almost made it to the store, a hand comes out of nowhere and pulls her into a little backyard. Her heart is ready to jump out of her chest until she sees Ismail’s grinning face. Of course it’s him, pretending they’re secret detectives once again. He really has to stop that. She brushes off his arm, with more force than she would probably need, thinking of how Mailin would look at her proudly if she was here. Ismail hasn’t even opened his mouth yet and she’s already annoyed at him.

“You have to stop acting like this,” Fatou calls out to him. It’s ridiculous, is what it is. They’re not in some crime movie and they’re not detectives secretly working together and solving cases. They don’t even like each other. They’re just classmates who are somehow forced to spend time together despite the fact that they can’t stand each other.

“Never,” he replies with his shit-eating grin. “We need to stay undercover.” He’s wearing his ridiculously big coat again and Fatou wouldn’t be surprised if he’d pull a magnifying glass out of it at any moment.

She rolls her eyes. “We’re not actually solving crimes, you know.”

“That’s what you think,” Ismail murmurs conspiratorially, his eyebrows raised.

She really doesn’t have time for this right now. “Just tell me why we’re here, please.”

“I need your help,” Ismail explains. Of course he does. And of course he’d have the audacity to ask her for help so shortly before Christmas. “Look, we need to help Kieu My.”

Fatou can’t stop her heart from beating a little faster at the mention of that name, even if she curses herself immediately for it. That chapter of her life is supposed to be over for good. That’s what she promised Ava and that’s what she should stick to.

“Why?” she croaks out, immediately cursing herself for how weak her voice sounds. Ismail doesn’t seem to catch onto her, maybe because he’s genuinely passionate about helping his friend or maybe because he’s just not that bright.

“This is Kieu My’s mother’s store. Kieu My helps her out and she had to close it up yesterday. Now the money is missing. And it wasn’t Kieu My’s fault but her mum is really angry. We need to find the money!” He sounds genuinely distressed. Maybe he’s capable of more empathy than Fatou would have given him credit for. And she has to admit, even if it wasn’t Kieu My they’re talking about, she’d feel bad for anyone in that situation. She knows first-hand that it’s not a fun situation to be in.

But there’s still no reason to ask her for help. It makes no sense. He has Constantin and the rest of his crew who would be more than willing to help, she’s sure. So she wants to know: “Why would you ask me for help?”

“Because we’re the best crime-solving duo in all of Berlin!” he exclaims with a grin.

Fatou hates that she can’t just tell him no or walk away or ignore him. She especially hates that the fact that this is about Kieu My really, really makes her want to help. “Okay, what do you know anything about what happened?”

“Kieu My was closing up the store and then she couldn’t find the money anymore,” Ismail explains. Or doesn’t explain, really.

“That’s not a lot, Ismail,” Fatou states. She’s even more tempted to turn around and go home now.

Ismail stares at her with an urgent look but he doesn’t explain anything, just shakes his head. “We _need_ to help her!”

Fatou wishes she was more like Ava, who would have a witty retort at that, or Nora, who would immediately come up with a ridiculous plan, or Mailin, who would have been clever enough to not have shown up here in the first place. But she’s not. “I really don’t know what you were thinking. How are we supposed to find money we don’t know anything about?”

“Come one, let’s just see if we can find something,” Ismail says, gesturing towards the store, and it sounds almost desperate.

She doesn’t dignify that with a response. Instead, she rolls her eyes but when he starts walking, she follows him. She hates herself for how she just complies. She’s too nice, she knows that. Everyone tells her that, especially Ava. Ava, who’s beautiful and strong and doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit. Who’s the exact reason why she shouldn’t even be talking to Ismail in the first place, except to tell him what an asshole he is. But Kieu My needs her help.

It’s only when they’re standing in front of the store and she’s supposed to hold open the door that she remembers the box she’s still holding in her hand.

“Wait, why do we need Maike for this?” she asks.

Ismail shrugs. “I just wanted to see her again.”

And Fatou already regrets everything in her life that has lead up to this moment.

…

The store is cute. Fatou is almost certain that Ismail is not supposed to have a key to it. She wants to ask him where he got it from but then again, she doesn’t really want to know. She just hopes he knows what he’s doing. (She’s almost certain he does not.)

It’s a small store but the way it’s decorated, Fatou can tell it’s being handled with care. It’s another puzzle piece of who Kieu My is, to be added to how she’s interested in astronomy and how she rode on Fatou’s skateboard and how she’s always dressed in her perfectly immaculate way.

Ismail is about to start blindly rummaging through the entire store, Fatou can tell, so she quickly tries to stop him before he breaks something.

“Do you have a plan?” she asks him.

“A plan?” he asks. This is off to a great start.

“You know, a plan for how we’ll find the money?” Fatou repeats.

“I thought we could just look around the store,” Ismail suggests.

“Yeah, I’m sure Kieu My hasn’t done that yet.” Fatou wouldn’t call herself someone who gets annoyed easily, usually, but Ismail is really testing her patience.

He rolls his eyes at her but he stops looking through the shelf he was about to take apart and turns towards her either way.

“So, what do you suggest?” he asks.

“Maybe start with the register?” Fatou replies. Ismail nods and then, to her absolute surprise, he actually follows her suggestion.

“There’s nothing here,” he says once he’s looked at the cash register. It’s ridiculous how disappointed he sounds.

“Wow, what a detective you are,” Fatou comments. “The whole point is that the money isn’t here.” Maybe that’s how Ava feels when she comes up with all her clever replies to people that annoy her.

Ismail rolls his eyes at her. They keep searching the store for places the money might be, Ismail with no reluctance whatsoever and Fatou with a lot of hesitance. She thinks it’s absolutely pointless to be doing this and also incredibly rude towards Kieu My’s mother who, she’s pretty sure, doesn’t know that they’re here. It’s probably even illegal.

“This is pointless,” she tells Ismail after a while. It’s uncomfortable and cold and all she wants is to be at home, wrapped into a blanket and drinking hot chocolate.

Ismail shakes his head. “We just need to look harder.”

“No, I’m going home,” Fatou decides. “We’ll never find anything here and besides, Maike is hungry.” Well, Fatou is. And she’s sure Maike is as well.

“Come on, don’t just leave. We haven’t even found a clue yet!” Ismail takes Maike out of her box. “Look, she wants you to stay too!”

“Put her down again,” Fatou tells him. He’s still holding her as if she’s a burger that he’s about to eat. Really, the best thing he ever did was give Maike to her instead of try to look after her himself.

Of course he doesn’t put her down. “I think she likes me,” he says instead.

“She doesn’t,” Fatou replies. “Not if you hold her like that.”

With an eyeroll, he goes to put Maike in her box again and instead of succeeding manages to push it off the table. As if the fact that they practically broke into this store wasn’t bad enough, all of the straw is now spilled on the floor.

“Oops,” Ismail says and then, Fatou can’t believe it, he starts laughing. She takes Maike out of his hands herself this time, before he’ll drop her as well, and orders him to put the straw back into the box. He only follows her orders slowly, still shaking with laughter, but at least a third of the straw lands in the box again. Until he stops doing anything all of a sudden.

“What is it?” Fatou wants to know. If she wasn’t annoyed before, she is now.

Ismail looks up to her with wide eyes and then, just like that, he lifts up one of the floor boards. There’s an envelope lying underneath.

Slowly, as if he can’t quite believe it, Ismail opens it. And really, it’s there. All of the money, just there.

“It can’t possibly be this easy,” Fatou says. It really can’t. A loose floor board? This feels like a badly written joke.

“We’re detectives! I told you!” Ismail exclaims. He’s still laughing and now, Fatou can’t help but join in. This whole thing is absurd. Absolutely ridiculous.

When they’ve calmed down, Fatou asks: “And what do we do now?”

Ismail grins. “Now we bring it to Kieu My. Come on!”

Before Fatou can protest, he’s ushering her out of the door again. She hasn’t fully grasped what is happening when they’re already on their way. To Kieu My’s _home_.

…

Fatou can’t help but be a little nervous when they’re standing in front of the door. She’s not sure she’s ready to see where Kieu My lives. It feels intimate in a way she’s not prepared for. But she’s also so curious to find out everything there is to find out about Kieu My.

She barely has time to brace herself when Ismail has already rung the doorbell and Kieu My opens the door. She doesn’t look quite as put together as she usually does and there’s something sad about her face. She doesn’t acknowledge Fatou, just looks at Ismail with a questioning and slightly annoyed look.

“What are you doing here?” she asks. If it wasn’t clear before, it’s abundantly clear now that Ismail did not discuss his whole detective plan with Kieu My beforehand.

“We have a Christmas present for you,” he tells her, grinning proudly.

“Ismail, you know I don’t –” He doesn’t let Kieu My finish her sentence and instead holds out the envelope with the cash.

“What is that?” Kieu My asks.

“Open it!” Ismail looks like an excited child and Fatou is almost certain that he’s very close to start jumping up and down on the spot. It’s a stark contrast to sceptical, hesitant Kieu My opening the envelope. It takes her a moment to realise what is in the envelope but when she does, a small smile starts spreading on her face.

“How did you do that?” she asks. Ismail launches into a monologue of how they used their superb detective skills to figure everything out at once and Fatou lets him.

She wants nothing more than to vanish, preferably immediately. It’s weird, standing in front of Kieu My’s home after having helped with something she had no reason to help with. She’s feeling more uncomfortable with every minute, both because of the fact that she shouldn’t be here and that Kieu My is still ignoring her. She’s just contemplating whether Kieu My and Ismail would even notice if she left right now and whether it would be better to try and sneak out or run as fast as possible when Kieu My says: “Do you want to come inside?” She’s looking directly at Fatou.

And before Fatou knows what’s happening, they’re in Kieu My’s home.

“I’ll give this to my mother quickly but just put your stuff there. Do you want a tea?” Kieu My keeps talking. It’s like a switch has flipped and she’s put on her happy, friendly persona. Or maybe she’s just genuinely happy about the returned money.

“Sure,” Fatou murmurs but when it comes out, Kieu My has already vanished off into a different room.

The apartment is cosy. More comfortable than she would have expected from someone as perfect as Kieu My. There’s pictures of Kieu My as a child on the walls that Fatou is trying not to stare at too openly. She’s interrupted by Ismail anyway.

“Look at us, solving _actual_ crimes together,” he grins. “I told you!”

“Kieu My misplaced the money and we found it. That’s hardly a crime,” Fatou corrects him.

“It could have been one!” Ismail disagrees. “I can’t wait for our next case.”

“This was a one-time thing,” Fatou tells him. “I helped you because I know how shitty it is when money goes missing from your workplace and it’s not your fault. Not because I like you.”

She can’t quite place Ismail’s expression at those words. He looks almost … hurt.

“What did I ever do to you, Fatou?” he asks. She can’t believe he has the nerve to ask her that.

“You bullied my friend,” she tells him. “That’s what you did. You made her feel like shit and you never even apologised for it. I will never ever be friends with you because you’re an asshole who doesn’t deserve a second of my time. I don’t owe you anything, Ismail, but the least you owe Ava is an apology.”

For the first time all day, he seems at a loss for words. The one time she really wants him to say something, explain or just promise her that he’ll never ever do it again, that he’ll leave Ava alone for the rest of their time at school, he doesn’t say anything.

“Think about it,” she says instead. Maybe she’s imagining it because she wants it to be true, but she thinks he gives her a small nod, the tiniest of nods. Ava is right. He’s an arrogant prick and not worth her time at all. And besides, she didn’t do this for him. She did this because she’s a nice person and she likes helping people if she can and she had nothing better to do anyway. And maybe she did it a tiny bit because it involved helping Kieu My. (But she’s not going to admit that, least of all to Ismail.)

“Is that a turtle?” A soft voice asks. Fatou would recognise it anywhere. She didn’t notice Kieu My coming back into the room.

“Yes! That’s Burger,” Ismail explains, in his insufferable way of saying things that always makes him sound so convinced that he’s right.

“Maike,” Fatou corrects him with an eyeroll.

Kieu My looks directly at her when she says it and maybe Fatou imagines it but she could swear there’s a tiny smile on her face.

“She’s so cute!” Kieu My says. “Can I hold her?”

“Sure,” Fatou murmurs. She’s ready to lift up Maike, hand her to Kieu My, with the tiniest hope that maybe their hands will touch when she does. It would be a small moment, one of the many, many small moments she has locked up in the special part of her brain that’s dedicated to Kieu My. But before she can lift Maike out of her box, Ismail already has. She’s anxious the entire time he holds Maike up to show her to Kieu My. He really should not be allowed to be this close to animals. But then Kieu My takes her and Fatou stops worrying.

It’s cute, seeing Kieu My with Maike. She’s way more gentle with her than Ismail. (Of course she is.) She seems softer now, not as sad as she did when they arrived and not as bubbly as she did when she invited them in. She seems more comfortable. Maybe more like herself.

“You like her, don’t you?” Ismail whispers, just quiet enough that Kieu My doesn’t hear. And Fatou wants to lie and say no, she really wants to, but she knows she’s an open book and really, what does it matter at this point? It’s not like she’s doing a great job of hiding her feelings.

“No,” she says but it comes out as “yes” and she knows it.

“I can put in a good word for you with her if you want,” Ismail suggests.

Fatou knows she must look absolutely appalled at his words because he starts laughing.

“Don’t you dare,” she tells him and he shrugs and keeps laughing.

They will never be friends, Fatou is sure of that. They may manage to spend the rest of their school time in peace, largely ignoring each other instead of fighting. (Well, that depends on how many fights Ava and Mailin will drag her into because Fatou knows if it comes to her girls, she will fight anyone, even if she really hates fights.) And then they’ll never talk to each other again after school and in 20 years they will meet at a reunion and maybe, if Ismail has managed to become a decent person until then, she will even talk to him. But she thinks that’s unlikely.

“Just go talk to her,” Ismail tells her now. Fatou rolls her eyes at him but she doesn’t dignify him with another response. She doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of being right even though he is and they both know it. “Come on, she doesn’t bite.” He says that a little too loudly because Kieu My perks up at those words.

“Maike bites?” she asks.

“No, don’t worry, she won’t bite you,” Fatou reassures her. And maybe it’s because now she’s already started talking to her or because Ismail was a tiny bit right or because she knows she will regret it if she doesn’t talk to Kieu My when she has the chance to but she sits down next to her.

“You can pet the underside of her neck if you want,” Fatou tells her.

“Can you show me?” Kieu My asks and Fatou could swear there’s a tiny grin on her face. It gives her goosebumps that only get worse when their hands accidentally touch. It makes her pull her hand away again because she’s scared of what it will do to her if they touch any longer.

“Like this, see?” she explains to Kieu My instead. And Kieu My nods and keeps petting Maike. She’s careful and sweet with her. Another puzzle piece, maybe, seeing Kieu My with Maike.

When Maike doesn’t retract her head and instead stretches it out towards Kieu My, Fatou tells her: “That’s really good. It means she trusts you.”

“Cute,” Kieu My says and smiles at her. And maybe it was worth it to get into all that trouble for this.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
